Finally, here is the last installment in our summer vacation blogposts.
We arrived into a deserted Nauvoo, late one afternoon after driving from Island Park. We'd intended to rest and recuperate that night, but since we were cutting our trip short by a day in order to beat Hurricane Irene to Virginia, we figured we needed to maximize our time there. Although the sites were not open, we took advantage of all of the outdoor sites we could find that evening, and enjoyed a beautiful summer night.
We visited the Smith family cemetery where Joseph Smith and several family members were buried in this picturesque spot near the Mississippi River.
Speaking of the Mississippi River, we were thoroughly in awe at the gorgeous sunset over the Mississippi that night and enjoyed some of the best birdwatching there that we'd seen the whole trip. Adam could have spent days and days there.
We visited some monuments and outdoor exhibits and rested some more...
On the way back to the hotel, we enjoyed this beautiful view of the Nauvoo Temple.
Then it was back to the hotel, where we did a whole lot of this....
The comfortable beds coupled with an amazing view out of our window of this....
and decor like this....
and the kiddos declared Zion's Mercantile Hotel in Nauvoo the "Awesomest Hotel Ever". We highly recommend it as a very family friendly and conveniently located place to stay, in case you're ever looking for a good place to stay in Nauvoo.
The next day we took a free wagon tour around Nauvoo. A few weeks earlier it would have been jam packed and rushed, but that day in August, we got the entire wagon ride (and the horses) to ourselves!
We made a really quick stop at an interactive children's workshop where the kids could try on clothes and try out some fun, old fashioned activities. Unfortunately we could only stay for all of three minutes or so, so they didn't get to try anything other than the dress ups.
We finished our whirlwind tour of Nauvoo with a visit to this sculpture garden that I remember from my childhood.
On the way out of Nauvoo, we decided to try out this fudge shop. It says we were thinking of you on the box, but it lied. We ate it so fast, that we really didn't think of sharing it with anyone....even you.
Then, as we were leaving, we stopped at Carthage Jail and took a quick tour there. Once again, we had the whole place to ourselves, which was cool and a little awkward.
We feel like we just touched the tip of the iceberg there, but we definitely are excited to go back again soon. What an amazing place!
The End of Summer Vacation 2011.
*************
We arrived into a deserted Nauvoo, late one afternoon after driving from Island Park. We'd intended to rest and recuperate that night, but since we were cutting our trip short by a day in order to beat Hurricane Irene to Virginia, we figured we needed to maximize our time there. Although the sites were not open, we took advantage of all of the outdoor sites we could find that evening, and enjoyed a beautiful summer night.
We visited the Smith family cemetery where Joseph Smith and several family members were buried in this picturesque spot near the Mississippi River.
Speaking of the Mississippi River, we were thoroughly in awe at the gorgeous sunset over the Mississippi that night and enjoyed some of the best birdwatching there that we'd seen the whole trip. Adam could have spent days and days there.
We were all pretty tired out from all of the driving we'd done over the last few days, so the kids looked for opportunities to rest every chance they got.
We visited some monuments and outdoor exhibits and rested some more...
On the way back to the hotel, we enjoyed this beautiful view of the Nauvoo Temple.
The comfortable beds coupled with an amazing view out of our window of this....
and decor like this....
The next day we took a free wagon tour around Nauvoo. A few weeks earlier it would have been jam packed and rushed, but that day in August, we got the entire wagon ride (and the horses) to ourselves!
We made a really quick stop at an interactive children's workshop where the kids could try on clothes and try out some fun, old fashioned activities. Unfortunately we could only stay for all of three minutes or so, so they didn't get to try anything other than the dress ups.
We finished our whirlwind tour of Nauvoo with a visit to this sculpture garden that I remember from my childhood.
On the way out of Nauvoo, we decided to try out this fudge shop. It says we were thinking of you on the box, but it lied. We ate it so fast, that we really didn't think of sharing it with anyone....even you.
Then, as we were leaving, we stopped at Carthage Jail and took a quick tour there. Once again, we had the whole place to ourselves, which was cool and a little awkward.
We feel like we just touched the tip of the iceberg there, but we definitely are excited to go back again soon. What an amazing place!
The End of Summer Vacation 2011.
*************
2 comments:
Our family has been there many, many times over the years beginning way back in the early 1970's not long after we were married. We visited there a couple of times in the dead of winter long before the new temple or the visitors center were there. It was always a special place with an amazing spirit. Never stayed in just a nice hotel, but always in one of the old places, and camped many, many nights there. Glad you got a chance to take your family, even if only for a day.
BTW, our current HT Dennis Smith is the sculptor of all the family sculptures there. We remember when they first installed them long ago.
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